A turret on Hadrian's Wall was a small stone tower, about the size of a garden shed, built into the wall itself so that two soldiers could shelter and watch the country. Two turrets stood between each pair of milecastles, spaced about a third of a Roman mile apart, which means a signal could be passed along the wall in minutes by lamp, horn or flag. Turret 3a, near Pasture House on the Solway plain, is one of those tiny posts, and it is a good place to imagine the monotony of the job: a cold, damp night, a wide flat horizon, and the wind in the grass.
This far west the landscape is dominated by the water. The Solway coast is flat farmland, saltmarsh and sand, with Scotland low and blue across the firth, and the sunsets are famous. Silloth, a few kilometres off, is a Victorian seaside resort, built in the nineteenth century when the railway reached the coast, with a wide green and a promenade facing the sea. Nearby Anthorn is home to a radio station whose transmitter sends out the time signal that sets many of Britain's radio-controlled clocks, so there is a certain irony in the quiet fields above which the clock of the nation is broadcast.
For motorcyclists, the pleasure is space. Roads on the Solway plain are straight and flat, with long views and gentle turns, and traffic is sparse. The surface varies, with patched tarmac on some of the lanes, and mud or slurry after farm work. The wind can be strong and cold, and rain showers sweep across the plain, so a waterproof is essential. Spring brings lambs and skylarks, autumn brings geese, and summer evenings are long and golden.
Fuel is available at Silloth, about ten kilometres away, and at Annan across the border, though the road round is long, so Carlisle is also an option. Silloth has fish and chip shops, cafés and pubs along the green, and the local Cumbrian lamb is good. Take time to walk to the turret site, read the information board and enjoy the unobstructed sky.